UCS Partners with APSV and TPC to Clean Up Former Encampment in Bennington

(Bennington, VT) Staff and volunteers from United Counseling Service (UCS), AIDS Project of Southern Vermont (APSV) and Turning Point Recovery Center of Bennington (TPC) joined together on Friday, May 2, to clean up a former encampment in Bennington, VT. The group filled several bags with waste from the site, which was home for many Bennington area individuals who recently found themselves without housing. Items removed on Friday included rusted metal frames, empty food containers, beds and clothing, as well as used needles, which were disposed of in biohazard containers that the group brought with them.

There is no one living in the encampment now, but as the Vermont motel voucher program shifts during warmer weather, people may return. The goal of the cleanup was to improve the safety of the area, for people passing through, and for those who may return to seek shelter.

“Our focus is on harm reduction,” said Sunshine Williams, UCS Substance Use Navigator and Mobile Outreach for the Unhoused in an interview with WCAX. “Even if it just means helping someone have a clean space to camp because they can’t access housing or motel vouchers, that’s still a step forward.”

Williams worked with APSV Overdose Outreach Worker Natasha Hoag and TPC Executive Director Margae Diamond to organize the event. For more information about UCS, please visit ucsvt.org. Information about TPC can be found at tpcbennington.org, and information about APSV can be found at aidsprojectsouthernvermont.org.

United Counseling Service (UCS) is a private, non-profit community mental health center that has been an essential part of Bennington County’s integrated healthcare system since 1958. The organization has been designated as a Center of Excellence by Vermont Care Partners. UCS promotes healthy lifestyles through all its programs and offers care at 17 different facilities, including two primary outpatient facilities in Bennington and Manchester. UCS provides outpatient counseling and addiction services, emergency mental health services, extensive rehabilitation services, home and school-based services, employment services for people recovering from mental illness or with developmental disabilities, and early childhood services.  For more information visit www.ucsvt.org.